As I mentioned in my post about DUMBO, I was determined to travel outside of Manhattan on this second trip to The City. Naturally after hitting the main sites, we decided to dedicate a day to Coney Island and Luna Park.
Coney Island & Luna Park
A lot of people, including myself were confused between the two names. Coney Island is a sea-side area of Brooklyn consisting of a long boarkwalk/promenade lined with restaurants, fast-food outlets and bars.
Luna Park refers to the theme park and amusements that sits on the boardwalk. It’s actually two separate sections but your ticket covers you for both. Coney Island is free to visit but if you want to go on any of the rides in Luna Park, you’ll have to pay for a ticket.
Our Experience
We absolutely loved our day trip to Coney Island! It was a great way to get away from the bustle of Manhattan and pretend we were kids again. Riding roller-coasters and eating sweets.
We got the subway (Q Train) down, the station is just across the road from the park so it is impossible to get lost. We picked up our wristbands at the booth and off we went running around like children hyped up on sugar.
The park was really quiet because it was a Wednesday and I’m assuming the kids were all still in school early June. The only people we had to compete for rides were a group of kids on a school/club trip and a Bar Mitzvah party. But they were really young and didn’t go on the thrill rides we did.
Top tip: You can get the F, D, N or Q subway trains to Coney Island but I recommend the D, N or Q train as it gives you amazing views of downtown Manhattan
Booking Tickets
Visiting this iconic theme park was quite a last minute decision for us and one we made while we were over in New York. We initially thought ticket prices were quite steep but after visiting the park we can say they are well worth the money.
Our top tip would be to decide on a specific day you are going and book your ticket in advance. If you book 24 hours before your visit you get a discounted price.
We booked ours online using our credit card through our phones. You get a confirmation email and when you go to the park, just show it to the staff at the ticket booths and they give you your wristband.
For more information, visit the Luna Park website.
Where We Ate
Coney Island has a few options for eating and drinking along the boardwalk but since it was our first time visiting, we decided to try the world famous Nathan’s hot dog! We got the Cheese Hot Dog with a side of fries each.
Although Luna Park was quite quiet on a Wednesday afternoon but the boardwalk was busy. It was a hot June day and there were a lot of groups of young teenagers visiting the beach for the day and grabbing a cheap hot dog for lunch.
There’s not a lot of seating in Nathan’s (we shared a picnic bench with a lovely German couple) but I would highly recommend still getting a hot dog and even sitting on one of the communcal benches or even on the sand.
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